The Guardian Gets Distinctive; Peter Horan Steps Down From Answers

The Guardian is a digital audience powerhouse, reaching 90 million monthly uniques. In an interview with Media Briefing, Guardian Media Group CEO Andrew Miller says programmatic advertising is integral to monetizing that huge audience. Reporter Jasper Jackson writes of Miller, “He claims that a focus on delivering segmented audiences rather than opening up all the Guardian's inventory is increasing the yields. But it isn't all just about making the most of clever technology behind the ads.” The publisher is rolling out a unit, Guardian Labs, to offer tools and support for “more distinctive advertising.” More.

In Transition

In his LinkedIn profile, Peter Horan has announced that he has stepped down from his president and COO role at Q&A wiki site Answers. He writes in his profile, “In February of 2014, I transitioned from working on the daily operations of Answers to being a strategic advisor – still focused primarily on the core issues of monetization and corporate strategy. This enables me to spend additional time with my other portfolio companies.” See it.

The Fraud Problem

The IAB was stepping out and speaking out against fraud at its Annual Leadership Meeting, and as Doug Weaver CEO of Upstream notes, the politically correct terms are being dropped. In order to fight fraud those on all sides of the advertising sphere have to be ready to take responsibility and make changes. He writes, “Unless the IAB defends the third-party cookie, they cede the whole data pie to Google and Facebook; but in defending it, they keep the borders open for the potential bad actors. Hard problem ... much work ahead. But the IAB has a sense of urgency. More importantly, a sense of real leadership and purpose.” Read the rest.

Yahoo Buys Wander

Yahoo has acquired Wander, a startup that makes a diary-like mobile app. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TechCrunch estimates that the five-person team was acquired for about $10 million. Wander makes an app for the iPhone calledDays, which lets users share photos and animated GIFs in a package that can be shared the next day. Read more. The strategy of Yahoo picking up little startups here and there will someday be reviewed – will it have worked? Check back in 3-5 years. CEO Marissa Mayer continues to roll the acqui-hire dice in the meantime.

Social TV Race

Cracking the social TV space is a top priority for Facebook and Twitter, and Facebook just announced another step toward realizing this goal. The company has partnered with SecondSync to measure TV chatter, and released a white paper analyzing how different countries use Facebook to talk about TV. “We’re very excited to be partnering with a company of SecondSync’s caliber,” said Fred Leach, Facebook’s head of measurement R&D and partnerships. “We look forward to being able to share a wealth of insight with the broader industry regarding the dynamics of how people talk with their friends about TV on Facebook.” Read the post.